Royal Institute for Cultural HeritageAR&PA 2008 : 6th art and heritage restoration fair - from October 30 to November 2, 2008 (Valladolid, Spain)
November 15, 2008 - IRPA participated in the 6th art and heritage restoration fair held in Valladolid from October 30 to November 2. The institute was very well received! The participation follows the tradition of cultural exchanges, which, during the 15th and 16th centuries united Spain and the Southern Netherlands.
The fair brought together 300 exhibitors from 14 European and South American countries. Thanks to this gathering, several collaboration agreements followed, additional proof of a better heritage conservation.
AR&PA 2008 highlighted the importance of a sustainable management of heritage and showed that culture concerns everyone. Children were able to work on a puzzle of an altarpiece so as to learn how to make out the different parts. Teenagers cleaned ancient pieces of pottery using a bistoury. Around 40,000 visitors attended the fair. They learned about history through art and discovered the different methods used in the conservation. And so, more than a thousand families obtained their “Heritage passport”!
AR&PA also brought together professionals: 300 of them took part in the scientific conference: Restoring memory. The round tables and the specialists’ speeches reviewed some important heritage interventions always keeping in mind the idea of Managing heritage: towards a long-lasting project (La gestion du patrimoine : vers un projet durable). At the same time, the Technical days of analysis and evaluation of intervention on cultural heritage (Journées techniques d'analyse et d'évaluation des interventions sur le Patrimoine culturel) were held and many organizations and institutions gathered to debate the stakes of new methods and innovative projects in relation to heritage. During one of these technical days, different institutions participating were presented. IRPA presented its activities via a conference: IRPA, research centre for the memory and the heritage in Federal Belgium (L’IRPA, centre de recherche pour la mémoire et le patrimoine en Belgique federale). IRPA also participated in another conference: Study of applied brocades to a Brussels altarpiece from the beginning of the 16th century, interdisciplinary research at IRPA (Étude des brocarts appliqués dans un retable bruxellois du début du XVIe siècle, recherche interdisciplinaire à l’IRPA).
October 16, 2008 - Since 1998, Valladolid has hosted the AR&PA fair organized by the Castile and Leon Government and held every two years. This fair is a place of encounter and debates between professionals and institutions responsible for managing, conserving and restoring cultural heritage. It offers a number of activities open to all those interested in knowing how and why we must intervene and preserve a cultural legacy for future generations. IRPA is one of the exhibitors, next to the Instituto de Patrimonio Histórico Español (IPHE) and the Instituto Português do Património Arquitectónico (IPPAR). Many private and public organizations along with education institutions are participating as well. They will all introduce their main projects and the services they provide in the different fields in relation with the protection, study, conservation-restoration, interpretation, management and transmission of cultural heritage.
At the same time, the fair is hosting the International Conference, Conserving the memory (Restaurar la memoria), entitled this year “Managing heritage: towards a long-lasting project” (La gestion du patrimoine :vers un projet durable) as well as the Technical days of analysis and evaluation of intervention on cultural heritage (Journées techniques d'analyse et d'évaluation des interventions sur le Patrimoine culturel). Finally, the AR&PA prices for the intervention on cultural heritage will be awarded. They praise the works done in the field of study.
This year, IRPA is taking part, for the first time, in this great event in line with a collaboration protocol signed on May 6, 2008 with the Culture and Tourism Department of the Regional Government of Castile and Leon.
